On 06/20/18 at around 0830 hrs, deputies spoke with a complainant in reference to a scam. The complainant stated that on 06/18/18, an unknown individual called her father. The caller identified himself as the victim's grandson and told him that he was in jail following a traffic accident. The caller told the victim to contact the caller's attorney, Perry Thomas, at 971-238-7961. When the victim made the call, the individual identifying himself as Thomas told the victim to obtain a pre-paid card or money order from Walgreens for $8,500. Once the victim had  obtained the card or money order, he was to mail it to Johanna Darz at an address in Bronx, NY. The victim's family was able to stop him prior to obtaining the money transfer. He was able to contact his grandson who confirmed that he had not called the victim and was not in jail.

A Google search of the phone number revealed numerous complaints of identical scams involving a caller identifying themselves as a family member in need of assistance because of arrest or hospitalization. Each time the victims were referred to Perry Thomas and were told to mail the varying amounts to the address in Bronx, NY.

Listed below are links to information on identifying and avoiding phone scams. Also listed are two applications that can be helpful in identifying scam callers.

Links

https://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Phone-Scams

https://www.consumerreports.org/consumer-protection/how-to-identify-a-phone-scam/

https://www.bbb.org/en/us/article/news-releases/16670-a-new-kind-of-phone-scam-neighbor-spoofing

Phone Apps (Search in App Store)

Hiya

Robokiller